Method and Apparatus for Controlling Onboard System

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for controlling an onboard system includes determining, using a sensor mounted in a steering wheel, a track of a current gesture of a driver in a process of holding, by the driver, the steering wheel; determining a type of the current gesture from preset gesture types based on the track of the current gesture; and controlling the onboard system to perform an operation corresponding to the type of the current gesture.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/550,950, filed on Aug. 26, 2019, which is acontinuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2017/101846,filed on Sep. 15, 2017, which claims priority to Chinese PatentApplication No. 201710106795.8, filed on Feb. 27, 2017. All of theaforementioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by referencein their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the field of vehicleelectronics, and more specifically, to a method and an apparatus forcontrolling an onboard system.

BACKGROUND

With continuous improvement in vehicle safety standards and vehicleelectronization levels and increasing requirements of people for drivingsafety, steady growth in a vehicle electronic market is greatlypromoted.

In a conventional vehicle, to implement different functions, forexample, to implement functions such as switching, playing, or pausingof songs when music is played, or to implement a function such ascontrolling a size of a map on an onboard display screen when onboardnavigation is displayed, different function operations need to beimplemented by using function keys disposed on a steering wheel, anonboard center console, or other positions. However, positions of thefunction keys on the steering wheel, the onboard center console, or theother positions are fixed, and cannot be adjusted, a quantity of thefunction keys is large, and some function keys are relatively distantfrom a position of the steering wheel, and so on. Therefore, a driverneeds to be distracted to perform a corresponding operation when drivinga vehicle, and there is a risk of a traffic accident. Therefore, forvehicle electronics, a safer, more reliable, and simpler operationmethod is needed in human-computer interaction.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and an apparatusfor controlling an onboard system. Types of some gestures performed by adriver are identified by using a sensor mounted in a steering wheel, andoperations corresponding to different types of gestures are performed onthe onboard system based on the types of the gestures such that somefunction operation requirements of the driver during driving of avehicle are desirably met, driving safety is ensured, and interactionbetween the vehicle and a human is closer.

According to one aspect, a method for controlling an onboard system isprovided. The method includes determining, by using a sensor mounted ina steering wheel, a track of a current gesture of a driver in a processof holding, by the driver, the steering wheel; determining a type of thecurrent gesture from preset gesture types based on the track of thecurrent gesture; and controlling the onboard system to perform anoperation corresponding to the type of the current gesture.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, when the driver holds thesteering wheel by using a hand, types of some gestures performed by thedriver may be identified by using the sensor mounted in the steeringwheel, and operations corresponding to different types of gestures areperformed on the onboard system based on the types of the gestures suchthat some function operation requirements of the driver during drivingof a vehicle are desirably met, driving safety is ensured, andinteraction between the vehicle and a human is closer.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first implementation of thefirst aspect, a plurality of sensors are mounted in the steering wheel.The plurality of sensors are a plurality of ultrasonic sensors. Thedetermining a track of a current gesture of a driver by using a sensormounted in a steering wheel includes obtaining ultrasonic signalscollected by the plurality of ultrasonic sensors within a period oftime; selecting a reflected signal from the collected ultrasonicsignals; and positioning a hand or a finger of the driver within aperiod of time based on the selected reflected signal, to determine thetrack of the current gesture.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the reflected signal isdetermined in the ultrasonic signals, to accurately determine the trackof the current gesture.

With reference to the first aspect or the first implementation of thefirst aspect, in a second implementation of the first aspect, before thedetermining a track of a current gesture of a driver by using a sensormounted in a steering wheel, the method further includes determiningwhether the steering wheel is in a rotation state. The determining atrack of a current gesture of a driver by using a sensor mounted in asteering wheel includes determining, when the steering wheel is in anon-rotation state, the track of the current gesture of the driver byusing the sensor mounted in the steering wheel.

With reference to any one of the first aspect or the first and thesecond implementations of the first aspect, in a third implementation ofthe first aspect, a gyroscope is mounted in the steering wheel. Thedetermining whether the steering wheel is in a rotation state includesdetermining, based on the gyroscope, whether the steering wheel is inthe rotation state.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, whether the steering wheelis in the rotation state is determined, to avoid identifying a gestureof the driver when the steering wheel is in the rotation state, andensure precision of gesture identification.

With reference to any one of the first aspect, or the first to the thirdimplementations of the first aspect, in a fourth implementation of thefirst aspect, the preset gesture types include at least one of thefollowing gesture types such as sliding two fingers inward or outward;sliding two fingers clockwise or anticlockwise; sliding one fingerupward, downward, leftward, and rightward; double-clicking with onefinger; waving one hand; touching and sliding one finger along an innerside of circumference of the steering wheel; and double-clicking withtwo fingers.

With reference to any one of the first aspect or the first to the fourthimplementations of the first aspect, in a fifth implementation of thefirst aspect, the circumference of the steering wheel is provided with aplurality of sound holes. The plurality of sound holes are in one-to-onecorrespondence with the plurality of ultrasonic sensors. Directions ofthe sound holes are determined based on an active area of a hand or afinger of the driver and coverage of the ultrasonic signals.

With reference to the fifth implementation of the first aspect, in asixth implementation of the first aspect, a waterproof ventilation filmis disposed between the ultrasonic sensors and the sound holes. Thewaterproof ventilation film is configured to prevent water vapor fromentering the ultrasonic sensors through the sound holes.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the waterproof ventilationfilm can prevent the water vapor from entering the ultrasonic sensors,to ensure precision of gesture identification.

According to a second aspect, an apparatus for controlling an onboardsystem is provided. The apparatus includes a first determining moduleconfigured to determine, by using a sensor mounted in a steering wheel,a track of a current gesture of a driver in a process of holding, by thedriver, the steering wheel; a second determining module configured todetermine a type of the current gesture from preset gesture types basedon the track of the current gesture; and a control module configured tocontrol the onboard system to perform an operation corresponding to thetype of the current gesture.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first implementation of thesecond aspect, a plurality of sensors are mounted in the steering wheel.The plurality of sensors are a plurality of ultrasonic sensors. Thefirst determining module is further configured to obtain ultrasonicsignals collected by the plurality of ultrasonic sensors within a periodof time; select a reflected signal from the collected ultrasonicsignals; and position a hand or a finger of the driver within a periodof time based on the selected reflected signal, to determine the trackof the current gesture.

With reference to the second aspect or the first implementation of thesecond aspect, in a second implementation of the second aspect, theapparatus further includes a third determining module configured todetermine whether the steering wheel is in a rotation state. The firstdetermining module is further configured to determine, when the steeringwheel is in a non-rotation state, the track of the current gesture ofthe driver by using the sensor mounted in the steering wheel.

With reference to any one of the second aspect or the first and thesecond implementations of the second aspect, in a third implementationof the second aspect, a gyroscope is mounted in the steering wheel. Thethird determining module is further configured to determine, based onthe gyroscope, whether the steering wheel is in the rotation state.

With reference to any one of the second aspect, or the first to thethird implementations of the second aspect, in a fourth implementationof the second aspect, the preset gesture types include at least one ofthe following gesture types such as sliding two fingers inward oroutward; sliding two fingers clockwise or anticlockwise; sliding onefinger upward, downward, leftward, and rightward; double-clicking withone finger; waving one hand; touching and sliding one finger along aninner side of circumference of the steering wheel; and double-clickingwith two fingers.

With reference to any one of the second aspect, or the first to thefourth implementations of the second aspect, in a fifth implementationof the second aspect, the circumference of the steering wheel isprovided with a plurality of sound holes. The plurality of sound holesare in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of ultrasonicsensors. Directions of the sound holes are determined based on an activearea of a hand or a finger of the driver and coverage of the ultrasonicsignals.

With reference to the fifth implementation of the second aspect, in asixth implementation of the second aspect, a waterproof ventilation filmis disposed between the ultrasonic sensors and the sound holes. Thewaterproof ventilation film is configured to prevent water vapor fromentering the ultrasonic sensors through the sound holes.

According to a third aspect, an apparatus for controlling an onboardsystem is provided. The apparatus includes a memory and a processor. Thememory is configured to store program code. The processor is configuredto invoke the program code to implement the method according to thefirst aspect and the implementations of the first aspect.

According to a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium isprovided. The computer-readable storage medium stores an instruction.When the instruction is run on a computer, the computer is enabled toperform the method according to the foregoing aspects.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, types of some gesturesperformed by the driver may be identified by using the sensor mounted inthe steering wheel, and operations corresponding to different types ofgestures are performed on the onboard system based on the types of thegestures such that different operations of the driver on the onboardsystem are implemented, the driver is greatly facilitated, and drivingsafety is ensured.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a method for controlling an onboardsystem according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of application of a first gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of application of a second gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of application of a third gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of application of a fourth gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of application of a fifth gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of application of a sixth gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of application of a seventh gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of sound holes provided on thecircumference of a steering wheel according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic sensor mounted in asteering wheel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a layout form of a flexible printedcircuit board (FPCB) according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 12 is another schematic flowchart of a method for controlling anonboard system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for controlling anonboard system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 14 is another schematic block diagram of an apparatus forcontrolling an onboard system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following describes technical solutions in embodiments of thepresent disclosure with reference to accompanying drawings.

In a conventional vehicle, a driver needs to implement differentfunction operations by using different function keys. For example, afunction such as volume adjustment during multimedia playback isimplemented by using a key on a steering wheel, in a vehicle having anonboard phone, a key on a steering wheel may further implement afunction such as answering the phone, or a navigation display function,an in-car temperature adjustment function, or other functions can beimplemented by using a key on an onboard center console. However, thereare many function keys in the vehicle, positions of the function keysare fixed, positions of many function keys are relatively distant fromthe driver, and so on. Therefore, during normal driving of the driver,if the driver needs to perform operations on some function keys, thedriver may be distracted, and a traffic accident is easily caused.

To resolve the foregoing problem, an embodiment of the presentdisclosure provides a method for controlling an onboard system. Agesture of a driver is identified by using a sensor mounted in asteering wheel such that some function operations needed by the driverduring driving of a vehicle can be conveniently and fast implemented,and interaction between the vehicle and a human becomes closer.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a method 100 for controlling anonboard system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Themethod 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes some or all of the following steps.

110: Determine, by using a sensor mounted in a steering wheel, a trackof a current gesture of a driver in a process of holding, by the driver,the steering wheel.

120: Determine a type of the current gesture from preset gesture typesbased on the track of the current gesture.

130: Control the onboard system to perform an operation corresponding tothe type of the current gesture.

Further, when the driver holds the steering wheel by using a hand, typesof gestures performed by the driver may be identified by using thesensor mounted in the steering wheel, and operations corresponding todifferent types of gestures are performed on the onboard system based onthe types of the gestures. In the entire process, the hand of the drivermay remain in a state of holding the steering wheel, some gestures needto be performed using only some fingers or one hand of the driver suchthat different function operations can be implemented, some functionoperation requirements of the driver during driving of a vehicle aredesirably met, driving safety is ensured, and interaction between thevehicle and a human is closer.

It should be understood that the onboard system in this embodiment ofthe present disclosure may be an onboard head-up display (HUD), or maybe an onboard navigation system, an onboard menu system, and an onboardmultimedia system, or another onboard system. This is not limited inthis embodiment of the present disclosure.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the sensor may be mounted oncircumference of the steering wheel.

Optionally, in some embodiments, there may be a plurality of sensors.The plurality of sensors are connected in series to form a sensor array.

It should be understood that a specific quantity of the sensors may bedetermined by a size of the steering wheel, or may be determined byprecision needed for gesture identification. For example, when a gestureperformed by the driver needs to be precisely identified, the quantityof the sensors may be properly increased.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the sensor may be an ultrasonic sensor.

Optionally, in some embodiments, there may also be a plurality ofultrasonic sensors. A specific quantity of the plurality of ultrasonicsensors may be determined by a size of the steering wheel, or may bedetermined by precision of gesture identification. The plurality ofultrasonic sensors are connected in series to form an ultrasonic sensorarray.

It should be understood that in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure, a gesture performed by the driver is positioned according toan ultrasonic multipoint positioning principle, to identify the gesture.Therefore, the quantity of the ultrasonic sensors is at least two.

It should be understood that when the sensor is the ultrasonic sensor,the ultrasonic sensor may be used as a transmit end, or may be used as areceive end.

Optionally, in some embodiments, when the sensor is the ultrasonicsensor, ultrasonic signals received by the ultrasonic sensor may includea signal of a gesture performed by the driver, and may also include someother interference signals, for example, a noise signal of a fixedengine and a noise signal of another mechanical structure, and a signalhaving another frequency that is sent by a non-ultrasonic sensor.

Optionally, in some embodiments, ultrasonic signals received by areceive end of the ultrasonic sensor may be ultrasonic signals within aperiod of time, for example, may be ultrasonic signals within samplingtime periods. In this way, a problem that a volume of data needing to beprocessed is relatively large and it is difficult to process the datacan be avoided.

Optionally, in some embodiments, a parameter of the sampling timeperiods may be preset in the ultrasonic sensor. A user may freely set alength of the sampling time periods, or preset a length of the samplingtime periods in the ultrasonic sensor based on a signal velocity.

It should be understood that the sampling time periods may becontinuous, or may have an interval.

When the sampling time periods are continuous, when a time of ultrasonicsignals received by the ultrasonic sensor reaches a sampling timeperiod, a unit for storing data in the ultrasonic sensor mayautomatically transmit the ultrasonic signal collected in the samplingtime period to a processor, and empty the ultrasonic signal in thestorage unit, or when the storage unit does not need to process acurrently collected data signal, the storage unit may directly deletethe ultrasonic signal received in the sampling time period, to prepareto store an ultrasonic signal collected in a next sampling time period.

When the sampling time periods have an interval, an interrupt may be setin the ultrasonic sensor for implementation. When a sampling timereaches a current sampling time period, a unit for storing data in theultrasonic sensor may also automatically transmit ultrasonic signals inthe sampling time period to a processor, and empty the ultrasonicsignals in the storage unit. Within an internal time between twosampling time periods, the ultrasonic sensor may not transmit anultrasonic signal. When a next sampling time period reaches, theinterrupt in the ultrasonic sensor is woken up. The ultrasonic sensorstarts to transmit and receive ultrasonic signals. This manner canprevent the ultrasonic signal from being in a working state for a longtime, and reduce energy consumption of the ultrasonic sensor.

The interrupt time interval may be set by the user, or may be preset inthe ultrasonic sensor. This is not limited in this embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after the ultrasonic sensor receivesultrasonic signals, reflected signals may be determined in theultrasonic signals. For example, propagation distances of the ultrasonicsignals may be determined based on phase differences and delayparameters of the ultrasonic signals, and the reflected signals in theultrasonic signals are finally determined based on the different signalpropagation distances in the ultrasonic signals. The reflected signalsare wanted signals for identifying gestures performed by the driver.

Optionally, in some embodiments, some of the reflected signals may besignals out of an active area of a hand or a finger of the driver. Thesignals out of the active area of the hand or the finger of the drivercause interference to identification of gestures of the driver.Therefore, a reflected signal within the active area of the hand or thefinger of the driver may further be determined based on a phasedifference and a delay parameter of the reflected signal. The reflectedsignal within the active area of the hand or the finger of the driver isa signal required for final identification of the gestures.

Optionally, in some embodiments, before a reflected signal is determinedin ultrasonic signals, the method 100 further includes, when a receiveend of an ultrasonic sensor receives an ultrasonic signal, firstpredetermining the received ultrasonic signal, storing the receivedultrasonic signal when a time length from sending the ultrasonic signaland receiving the ultrasonic signal meets a preset condition, andskipping storing, by the ultrasonic sensor, the current ultrasonicsignal when the preset condition is not met, and re-receiving anultrasonic signal in a next time period and pre-determining theultrasonic signal. The preset condition may be a time threshold presetby the user. When a time length from transmitting an ultrasonic signalto receiving the ultrasonic signal is greater than the preset timethreshold, it may be determined that the ultrasonic signal satisfies thepreset condition.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, through the step ofpredetermining, some of received ultrasonic signals that directly enterthe receive end of the ultrasonic sensor without being reflected may beremoved in advance such that a gesture identification time is reduced,and gesture identification efficiency is improved.

It should be understood that, through the step of predetermining, someof ultrasonic signals may be removed, but not all signals that are notreflected in the ultrasonic signals can be removed. The step is onlypredetermining. When it is determined that an ultrasonic signal does notmeet the preset condition, the received ultrasonic signal is not furtherprocessed, and gesture identification efficiency is improved.

Optionally, in some embodiments, before the ultrasonic signal receivedby the receive end of the ultrasonic sensor is predetermined, the method100 further includes determining whether the steering wheel is in arotation state, and identifying, if the steering wheel is in anon-rotation state, the gesture of the driver using the sensor mountedin the steering wheel.

It should be understood that usually, the steering wheel is in therotation state because the driver operates the steering wheel, forexample, operates the steering wheel when making a turn or changing alane. In this case, a probability of operation of the driver on theonboard system is very low. In addition, when the driver operates thesteering wheel, placing positions of hands of the driver may affectidentification of the sensor for the gesture. Therefore, when thesteering wheel is in the rotation state, the gesture of the driver isnot identified.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the determining whether the steeringwheel is in a rotation state may be performed by a gyroscope disposed inthe steering wheel. Further, whether the steering wheel is in therotation state may be determined based on data information obtained bythe gyroscope.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the ultrasonic signals received by theultrasonic sensor further include other interference signals. Therefore,to more efficiently and accurately identify the gesture of the driver,before the reflected signal is determined in the ultrasonic signals, theinterference signals in the ultrasonic signals further need to beremoved.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the ultrasonic signals received by theultrasonic sensor may include some interference signals having naturalfrequencies, for example, sound of an engine and noise of anothermechanical structure. The noise signals are signals having naturalfrequencies. Therefore, time domain and frequency domain transformationmay be performed on the noise signals having the natural frequencies.Then, the noise signals having the natural frequencies are filtered outusing a band-pass filter.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after the noise signals having thenatural frequencies are filtered out, obtained ultrasonic signals mayfurther include some other signals. The other signals are not sent bythe ultrasonic sensor. Signals sent by the ultrasonic sensor are signalshaving natural frequencies. Therefore, frequencies of the other signalsare different from those of the signals sent by the ultrasonic sensor.Time domain and frequency domain transformation may be performed on thefrequencies of the other signals. Signals having other frequencies arefiltered out using a band-pass filter.

It should be understood that there is no definite sequence between stepof removing inherent noise signals and step of removing signals havingother frequencies. In addition, in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure, only one of the two steps may be performed, or the two stepsare both performed. Performing both the steps can remove allinterference signals in the received ultrasonic signal, and ensuregesture identification accuracy. Therefore, this is used as an examplein this embodiment of the present disclosure. However, this embodimentof the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after the reflected signal isdetermined in the ultrasonic signals, the hand or the finger of thedriver within the period of time may be positioned based on thereflected signal within the period of time. For example, coordinates ofpositions of the hand or the finger of the driver within the period oftime may be determined according to the ultrasonic multipointpositioning principle.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after the hand or the finger of thedriver within the period of time is positioned, the track of the currentgesture of the driver may be determined based on obtained positioninformation. For example, function fitting may be performed on thecoordinates of the positions of the hand or the finger of the driverwithin the period of time, to obtain a fitted function curve. The fittedfunction curve is the track of the current gesture of the driver.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the type of the current gesture may bedetermined from the preset gesture types based on the determined trackof the current gesture.

For example, the function curve of the track of the current gesture maybe compared with function curves in a database, and a function curvehaving a highest matching degree with the function curve of the track ofthe current gesture is selected from the function curves in thedatabase. A gesture type corresponding to the function curve having thehighest matching degree is the type of the current gesture.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the preset gesture types may include atleast one of the following gesture types:

sliding two fingers inward or outward;

sliding two fingers clockwise or anticlockwise;

sliding one finger upward, downward, leftward, and rightward;

double-clicking with one finger;

waving one hand;

touching and sliding one finger along an inner side of circumference ofthe steering wheel; and

double-clicking with two fingers.

It should be understood that the two fingers are a same finger of theleft hand and the right hand. For example, sliding, by the two fingers,inward is sliding, by the thumb of the left hand and the thumb of theright hand, inward, and sliding, by the two fingers, clockwise issliding, by the thumb of the left hand and the thumb of the right hand,clockwise. The one finger may be any finger of the left hand or theright hand, and the one hand may be either of the left hand or the righthand.

It should be further understood that when the driver drives the vehicle,hands are usually placed on the steering wheel, other fingers other thanthumbs are usually in a state of holding the steering wheel, and thethumbs usually can freely move. Therefore, when a gesture is performed,most commonly used fingers should be the thumbs. Therefore, in thisembodiment of the present disclosure, only the thumbs are used as anexample to describe the various gestures in detail. However, thisembodiment of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

To facilitate management of the gesture types, the gesture of thesliding two fingers inward or outward in the foregoing gestures may bemarked as a first gesture, the sliding two fingers clockwise oranticlockwise is marked as a second gesture, the sliding one fingerupward, downward, leftward, and rightward is marked as a third gesture,the double-clicking with one finger is marked as a fourth gesture, thewaving one hand is marked as a fifth gesture, the touching and slidingone finger along an inner side of circumference of the steering wheel ismarked as a sixth gesture, and the double-clicking with two fingers ismarked as a seventh gesture.

It should be understood that the description of the preset gesture typesis not intended to limit preset gesture types. In a subsequentdeveloping process, a research person may further add gestures forcontrolling other functions to the preset gesture types. In thisembodiment of the present disclosure, only the seven gestures are usedas an example to describe the preset gestures in detail. However, thisembodiment of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of application of a first gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The first gestureis sliding two fingers inward or outward, and can control a display sizeor a size of displayed content of the onboard system.

As shown in FIG. 2, the gesture of the sliding two fingers inward oroutward is used to control an HUD, and can control a display size of theHUD, control a font size of information displayed on the HUD, or thelike. For example, the gesture may be used to control a display size ofthe HUD on a windshield of the vehicle. Alternatively, when the driverneeds to pay attention to fuel consumption information to determinewhether a vehicle needs to refuel, the sliding two fingers outward inthe gesture can enlarge the font size of the information, for example,fuel consumption and a vehicle speed, displayed on the HUD, tofacilitate viewing of the driver.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the gesture of the sliding two fingers inwardor outward is used to control an onboard navigation system, a size of amap displayed on an onboard central control display screen may beadjusted by performing the gesture. When some road statuses are complexor the vehicle needs to change lanes or make a turn, the sliding twofingers outward in the gesture can enlarge the map, to facilitate thedriver to view a relatively small mark in the map at any time. When aroad status is relatively good or when the vehicle drives on anexpressway, the sliding two fingers inward in the gesture can reduce themap.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the gesture of the sliding two fingers inwardor outward is used to control an onboard menu system, a font size of amenu on an onboard central control display screen may be adjusted byperforming the gesture. For example, when the driver is an old person orhas relatively poor eyesight, the sliding two fingers outward canenlarge the font of the menu of the onboard system to facilitate viewingof the driver.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of application of a second gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The second gestureis sliding two fingers clockwise or anticlockwise, and can controltransformation of a visual angle of displayed content in the onboardsystem.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the gesture of the sliding two fingersclockwise or anticlockwise is used to control a road status displayed onan HUD, the sliding two fingers clockwise or anticlockwise can adjust aninclination angle of display with reference to a road status displayedon the HUD.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the gesture of the sliding two fingersclockwise or anticlockwise is used to control an onboard navigationsystem, the sliding two fingers clockwise or anticlockwise can switch amap of the onboard navigation system to a top view, a front view, orviews at other visual angles when the driver needs to view a specificbuilding or a specific road status in the map.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of application of a third gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The third gestureis sliding one finger upward, downward, leftward, and rightward, and cancontrol a display position of the onboard system, and implementfunctions such as selection of an option of a menu or operation of anoption in a multimedia system.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the gesture of the sliding one finger upward,downward, leftward, and rightward is used to control an HUD, a functionof controlling a position of the HUD that is displayed on a windshieldof a vehicle can be implemented. For example, the gesture of the slidingone finger upward, downward, leftward, and rightward can adjust thedisplay position of the HUD based on a height of the driver anddifferent eyeball positions of the driver in a cab.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the gesture of the sliding one finger upward,downward, leftward, and rightward is used to control an onboardnavigation system, a function of controlling a position of a mapdisplayed on an onboard central control display screen can beimplemented. For example, one finger may slide upward to view someposition information above a current position, one finger may slideleftward to view some position information on the left of a currentposition, and so on.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the gesture of the sliding one finger upward,downward, leftward, and rightward is used to control an onboard menusystem, a function of selecting a specific option in a menu can beimplemented. For example, one finger may slide downward to select a nextoption of a current option, one finger may slide rightward to select anoption on the right of a current option, and so on.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the gesture of the sliding one finger upward,downward, leftward, and rightward is used to control a multimediasystem, a function of controlling an operation of a specific option inthe multimedia system can be implemented. For example, when themultimedia system is used to play music, the sliding one finger upwardcan control to play a previous song, the sliding one finger downward cancontrol to play a next song, the sliding one finger leftward can reducea volume, the sliding one finger rightward can increase the volume, andso on.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of application of a fourth gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The fourth gestureis double-clicking with one finger, and can implement a function such asentering different options in the onboard system or pausing of playing.

As shown in FIG. 5, the gesture of the double-clicking with one fingeris used to control an HUD, and can implement a function of enteringoptions of different displayed content. For example, a speed option canbe entered by performing the double-clicking with one finger once, thena fuel consumption option can be entered by performing thedouble-clicking with one finger again, and so on.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the gesture of the double-clicking with onefinger is used to control an onboard navigation system, a function ofsearching for positions of, for example, a merchant near a currentposition or a target building of the user, can be implemented. Forexample, a position of a merchant or another building can be viewed byperforming the double-clicking with one finger once, and then adifferent merchant or building can be switched to by performing thedouble-clicking with one finger again.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the double-clicking with one finger is used tocontrol display of an onboard menu, a function of entering a specificoption in the menu can be implemented.

As shown in FIG. 5, when the double-clicking with one finger is used tocontrol a multimedia system, a function of pausing can be implemented.For example, when a song is played, the double-clicking with one fingercan pause playing.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of application of a fifth gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The fifth gestureis waving one hand, and can control switching between differentapplications or different modes in the onboard system.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the gesture of the waving one hand is used tocontrol an HUD, different displayed content can be switched byperforming the gesture. For example, when the HUD currently displaysreal-time fuel consumption, average fuel consumption can be switched toby performing the waving one hand.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the gesture of the waving one hand is used tocontrol an onboard central control screen, different applications on theonboard central control screen can be switched by performing the wavingone hand. For example, when the onboard central control screen currentlydisplays a map of onboard navigation, another application such as radiobroadcasting can be switched to by performing the waving one hand.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the gesture of the waving one hand is used tocontrol an onboard menu system, different setting modes can be switchedby performing the gesture. For example, when a vehicle is currently in ageneral mode, a safety mode can be switched to by performing the wavingone hand.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the gesture of the waving one hand is used tocontrol a multimedia system, different applications can be switched byperforming the gesture. For example, when the multimedia systemcurrently plays music, music playing can be switched to video playing,an image, or the like by performing the waving one hand.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of application of a sixth gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The sixth gestureis touching and sliding one finger along an inner side of the steeringwheel, and can implement a function of returning to a previous menu orexiting from an application.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the gesture of the touching and sliding onefinger along an inner side of the steering wheel is used to control anHUD, a previous menu can be returned to from current displayed contentby performing the gesture.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the gesture of the touching and sliding onefinger along an inner side of the steering wheel is used to control anonboard navigation system, the onboard navigation system can be exitedfrom by performing the gesture.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the gesture of the touching and sliding onefinger along an inner side of the steering wheel is used to control anonboard menu system, the onboard menu system can be exited from byperforming the gesture.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the gesture of the touching and sliding onefinger along an inner side of the steering wheel is used to control amultimedia system, the multimedia system can be exited from byperforming the gesture.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of application of a seventh gestureaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The seventhgesture is double-clicking with two fingers, and can implement functionsof closing an application and starting or stopping a gestureidentification mode.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the gesture of the double-clicking with twofingers is used to control an HUD, the HUD can be directly closed byperforming the gesture, or the gesture identification modes can beopened or closed in turn by performing the gesture.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the gesture of the double-clicking with twofingers is used to control display of onboard navigation, a navigationmode can be directly closed by performing the gesture, or the gestureidentification modes can be opened or closed in turn by performing thegesture.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the gesture of the double-clicking with twofingers is used to control display of an onboard menu, the gestureidentification modes can be opened or closed by performing the gesture.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the gesture of the double-clicking with twofingers is used to control a multimedia system, the gestureidentification modes can be opened or closed by performing the gesture.

Optionally, in some embodiments, when the gesture identification modesneed to be switched between a plurality of display modes, for example,be switched from an HUD to an onboard navigation display mode, previousmenus can be returned to level by level by performing a gesture oftouching and sliding along the inner side of the steering wheel, tillreturning to a top-level menu. After the top-level menu is returned to,the gesture of touching and sliding along the inner side of the steeringwheel is performed again. An onboard central control display screenpresents a selection menu of a plurality of modes, for example, aselection menu presenting four modes, namely, the HUD, the onboardnavigation display mode, an onboard menu display mode, and a multimediadisplay mode. In this case, different modes may be selected byperforming a gesture of sliding one finger upward, downward, leftward,and rightward.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the circumference of the steering wheelis provided with a plurality of sound holes. The plurality of soundholes are in one-to-one correspondence with the ultrasonic sensors.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of sound holes provided on circumferenceof a steering wheel according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

As shown in FIG. 9, there may be a plurality of sound holes. Theplurality of sound holes are evenly distributed on the circumference ofthe steering wheel.

Optionally, in some embodiments, when the sensors are ultrasonicsensors, a quantity of the sound holes is at least two.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the sound holes are in one-to-onecorrespondence with the ultrasonic sensors.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic sensor mounted in asteering wheel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 10, a waterproof ventilation film 10 is disposedbetween a sound hole 05 and an ultrasonic sensor 15. The waterproofventilation film is configured to prevent water vapor, for example,sweat on a hand of the driver or water vapor in the air, from enteringthe ultrasonic sensor 15 through the sound hole 05 and affecting normalworking of the ultrasonic sensor 15.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the ultrasonic sensor 15 is mounted ona flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) 20 through a surface-mounttechnology (SMT).

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a layout form of a flexible printedcircuit board FPC according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 11, the FPC is cabled into a shaft of the steeringwheel through a circumference bracket of the steering wheel, toimplement a connection to a microprocessor.

As shown in FIG. 10, a reinforcing plate 25 is mounted behind the FPC20. The reinforcing plate 25 is configured to reinforce the ultrasonicsensor, and fasten the ultrasonic sensor 15 and the FPC 20 through ascrew 30.

As shown in FIG. 10, a direction of the sound hole 05 may be determinedbased on an active area of a hand or a finger of the driver and a fieldof view (FOV) of the ultrasonic sensor, namely, coverage of anultrasonic signal.

FIG. 12 is a schematic flowchart of a method 200 for controlling anonboard system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Inthe method 200, a sensor mounted in a steering wheel is an ultrasonicsensor. As shown in FIG. 12, the method 200 includes some or all of thefollowing steps.

200: Initialize an ultrasonic sensor.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the initialization includes powering onthe ultrasonic sensor, and setting a parameter of the ultrasonic sensor,for example, setting a sampling time length of the ultrasonic sensor,and setting an interrupt of the ultrasonic sensor.

210: Determine whether a steering wheel is in a rotation state.

Optionally, in some embodiments, a gyroscope may be mounted in thesteering wheel. The gyroscope may determine, based on data informationcollected by the gyroscope, whether the steering wheel is in therotation state. When the steering wheel is in the rotation state, anultrasonic signal sent by the ultrasonic sensor may not need to becollected. To be specific, a gesture performed by a driver is notidentified, to ensure precision of gesture identification.

220: Predetermine ultrasonic signals.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after a receive end of the ultrasonicsensor receives the ultrasonic signals within a period of time, theultrasonic signals within the period of time may be predetermined todetermine whether time lengths from sending the ultrasonic signals toreceiving the ultrasonic signals meet a preset condition. The presetcondition is that the time lengths from sending the ultrasonic signalsto receiving the ultrasonic signals are greater than or equal to apreset time threshold. When the time lengths meet the preset condition,the received ultrasonic signals may be stored and further processed.When the time lengths do not meet the preset condition, the ultrasonicsensor does not store the current ultrasonic signals, and receives andpredetermines ultrasonic signals in a next period time again.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, ultrasonic signals arepredetermined to remove, in advance, a signal in the ultrasonic signalsthat is useless for gesture identification, and ensure gestureidentification accuracy.

230: Cancel inherent noise signals.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the inherent noise signals may be noisesignals of a vehicle engine or noise signals of another mechanicalstructure.

Optionally, in some embodiments, time domain and frequency domaintransformation may be performed on the noise signals having naturalfrequencies. Then, the noise signals having the natural frequencies arefiltered out using a band-pass filter.

240: Cancel an interference signal.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the interference signal is not a signalsent by an ultrasonic sensor. Therefore, the interference signal is anunwanted signal for identification of the gesture of the driver. Timedomain and frequency domain transformation may be performed on theinterference signal. The interference signal is filtered out using theband-pass filter, and only an ultrasonic signal sent by the ultrasonicsensor is reserved.

250: Determine reflected signals.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after the inherent noise signals andthe interference signal are filtered out, remaining signals in theultrasonic signals are all signals sent by the ultrasonic sensor. Theultrasonic signals include direct signals and reflected signals. Thedirect signals are sent from a transmit end of the ultrasonic sensor,and directly enter a receive end of the ultrasonic sensor without beingreflected by any object. Therefore, the direct signals are unwantedsignals for gesture identification. The reflected signals are signalssent from the transmit end of the ultrasonic sensor and entering thereceive end after being reflected by an object. The object reflectingultrasonic may be a hand or a finger of the driver, or may be anotherobject. In the reflected signals, signals reflected by the hand or thefinger of the driver are final wanted signals for gestureidentification.

Optionally, in some embodiments, propagation distances of the ultrasonicsignals may be calculated using phase differences and delay parametersof the ultrasonic signals, and then the reflected signals in theultrasonic signals are determined based on different propagationdistances. After the reflected signals are determined, propagationdistances of the reflected signals may be calculated using phasedifferences and delay parameters of the reflected signals, therebydetermining a signal in the reflected signals that is reflected by thehand or the finger of the driver, to be specific, a reflected signal inan active area of the hand or the finger of the driver. The signal is afinal wanted signal for gesture identification.

260: Determine contour information of a current gesture at a momentbased on position information of the reflected signals at the moment,and determine whether the contour information is valid.

The position information of the reflected signals in the active area ofthe hand or the finger of the driver at the moment is determined usingthe reflected signals. The contour information of the current gesture atthe moment is determined based on the position information. The contourinformation is compared with pre-stored contour information. When asimilarity is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, the contourinformation may be considered as valid contour information. To bespecific, the contour information is contour information of a hand or afinger of a person, thereby subsequent processing on the reflectedsignals is performed, to determine a gesture represented by thereflected signals. If the contour information is invalid, the subsequentprocessing may not be performed on the reflected signals, to reducegesture identification time.

The contour information of the hand or the finger of the driver isdetermined, to determine whether the obtained reflected signals arereflected signals reflected by the hand or the finger of the driver,thereby further ensuring gesture identification accuracy.

270: Determine a track of the current gesture of the driver.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after the reflected signals aredetermined from the ultrasonic signals, the hand or the finger of thedriver within the period of time may be positioned based on thereflected signals within the period of time. For example, coordinates ofa position of the hand or the finger of the driver within the period oftime may be determined according to the ultrasonic multipointpositioning principle.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after the hand or the finger of thedriver within the period of time is positioned, the track of the currentgesture of the driver may be determined based on obtained positioninformation. For example, function fitting may be performed on thecoordinates of the position of the hand or the finger of the driverwithin the period of time, to obtain a fitted function curve. The fittedfunction curve is the track of the current gesture of the driver.

280: Determine a type of the current gesture.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the type of the current gesture may bedetermined from the preset gesture types based on the determined trackof the current gesture.

For example, the function curve of the track of the current gesture maybe compared with function curves in a database, and a function curvehaving a highest matching degree with the function curve of the track ofthe current gesture is selected from the function curves in thedatabase. A gesture type corresponding to the function curve having thehighest matching degree is the type of the current gesture.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the preset gesture types may include atleast one of the following gesture types:

sliding two fingers inward or outward;

sliding two fingers clockwise or anticlockwise;

sliding one finger upward, downward, leftward, and rightward;

double-clicking with one finger;

waving one hand;

touching and sliding one finger along an inner side of circumference ofthe steering wheel; and

double-clicking with two fingers.

290: Control an onboard system based on the type of the current gesture,to perform an operation corresponding to the type of the currentgesture.

The onboard system in this embodiment of the present disclosure may bean onboard HUD, an onboard navigation system, an onboard menu system,and an onboard multimedia system, or another onboard system. This is notlimited in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

Method embodiments of the embodiments of the present disclosure aredescribed in detail above with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 12. Thefollowing describes embodiments of an apparatus for controlling anonboard system in the embodiments of the present disclosure in detailwith reference to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14. It should be noted that theembodiments of the apparatus for controlling an onboard systemcorrespond to the method embodiments. For similar descriptions, refer tothe method embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 300 for controllingan onboard system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.As shown in FIG. 13, the apparatus includes some or all of the followingmodules such as a first determining module 310 configured to determine,using a sensor mounted in a steering wheel, a track of a current gestureof a driver in a process of holding, by the driver, the steering wheel;a second determining module 320 configured to determine a type of thecurrent gesture from preset gesture types based on the track of thecurrent gesture; and a control module 330 configured to control theonboard system to perform an operation corresponding to the type of thecurrent gesture.

Further, when the driver holds the steering wheel using a hand, types ofsome gestures performed by the driver may be identified using the sensormounted in the steering wheel, and operations corresponding to differenttypes of gestures are performed on the onboard system based on the typesof the gestures. In the entire process, the hand of the driver mayremain in a state of holding the steering wheel, some gestures need tobe performed using only some fingers or one hand of the driver such thatdifferent function operations can be implemented, some functionoperation requirements of the driver during driving of a vehicle aregreatly facilitated, driving safety is ensured, and interaction betweenthe vehicle and a human is closer.

It should be understood that the onboard system in this embodiment ofthe present disclosure may be an onboard HUD, or may be an onboardnavigation system, an onboard menu system, and an onboard multimediasystem, or another onboard system. This is not limited in thisembodiment of the present disclosure.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the sensor may be mounted oncircumference of the steering wheel.

Optionally, in some embodiments, there may be a plurality of sensors.The plurality of sensors are connected in series to form a sensor array.

It should be understood that a specific quantity of the sensors may bedetermined by a size of the steering wheel, or may be determined byprecision needed for gesture identification. For example, when a gestureperformed by the driver needs to be precisely identified, the quantityof the sensors may be properly increased.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the sensor may be an ultrasonic sensor.

Optionally, in some embodiments, there may also be a plurality ofultrasonic sensors. A specific quantity of the plurality of ultrasonicsensors may be determined by a size of the steering wheel, or may bedetermined by precision of gesture identification. The plurality ofultrasonic sensors are connected in series to form an ultrasonic sensorarray.

It should be understood that a gesture is identified according to anultrasonic multipoint positioning principle. Therefore, the quantity ofthe ultrasonic sensors is at least two.

It should be understood that when the sensor is the ultrasonic sensor,the ultrasonic sensor may be used as a transmit end, or may be used as areceive end.

Optionally, in some embodiments, when the sensor is the ultrasonicsensor, the ultrasonic sensor is further configured to obtain ultrasonicsignals collected by the plurality of ultrasonic sensors within a periodof time; select a reflected signal from the collected ultrasonicsignals; and position a hand or a finger of the driver within a periodof time based on the selected reflected signal, to determine the trackof the current gesture.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the apparatus 300 further includes athird determining module 340. The third determining module 340 isconfigured to determine whether the steering wheel is in a rotationstate.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the preset gesture types include atleast one of the following gesture types:

sliding two fingers inward or outward;

sliding two fingers clockwise or anticlockwise;

sliding one finger upward, downward, leftward, and rightward;

double-clicking with one finger;

waving one hand;

touching and sliding one finger along an inner side of circumference ofthe steering wheel; and

double-clicking with two fingers.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the circumference of the steering wheelis provided with a plurality of sound holes. The plurality of soundholes are in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of ultrasonicsensors. Directions of the sound holes are determined based on an activearea of a hand or a finger of the driver and coverage of the ultrasonicsignals.

Optionally, in some embodiments, a waterproof ventilation film isdisposed between the ultrasonic sensors and the sound holes. Thewaterproof ventilation film is configured to prevent water vapor fromentering the ultrasonic sensors through the sound holes.

It should be understood that the apparatus for controlling an onboardsystem according to this embodiment of the present disclosure maycorrespond to the method for controlling an onboard system in theembodiments of the present disclosure, and the foregoing and otheroperations and/or functions of the modules of the apparatus 300 forcontrolling an onboard system respectively implement correspondingprocedures of the methods in FIG. 1 and FIG. 12. For brevity, detailsare not described herein again.

FIG. 14 is schematic structural diagram of an apparatus 400 forcontrolling an onboard system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 14, the apparatus 400 includes a memory 410and a processor 420. The memory 410 and the processor 420 communicatewith each other and transfer a control and/or data signal through aninternal connection path.

The memory 410 is configured to store program code.

The processor 420 is configured to invoke the program code to implementthe method in the foregoing embodiments in the embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 420 may be acentral processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), or acombination of a CPU and an NP. The processor may further include ahardware chip. The foregoing hardware chip may be anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logicdevice (PLD), or a combination thereof.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readablestorage medium configured to store code of computer program. Thecomputer program includes an instruction used to perform the method forcontrolling an onboard system in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure in FIG. 1 to FIG. 12. The readable storage medium may be aread-only memory (ROM) or a random-access memory (RAM). This is notlimited in this embodiment of the present disclosure.

All or some of the embodiments of the present disclosure may beimplemented by means of software, hardware, firmware, or any combinationthereof. When software is used to implement the embodiments, theembodiments may be implemented completely or partially in a form of acomputer program product. The computer program product includes one ormore computer instructions. When the computer program instructions areloaded and executed on a computer, all or some of the processes orfunctions according to the embodiments of the present disclosure areproduced. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicatedcomputer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatuses. Thecomputer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable medium or maybe transmitted from a computer-readable storage medium to anothercomputer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructionsmay be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center toanother website, computer, server, or data center in a wired (forexample, a coaxial cable, an optical fiber, or a digital subscriber line(DSL)) or wireless (for example, infrared, radio, and microwave) manner.The computer-readable storage medium may be any usable medium accessibleby a computer, or a data storage device, such as a server or a datacenter, integrating one or more usable media. The usable medium may be amagnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetictape), an optical medium (for example, a digital video disc (DVD)), or asemiconductor medium (for example, a solid-state disk (SSD)), or thelike.

It should be understood that the apparatus for controlling an onboardsystem according to this embodiment of the present disclosure maycorrespond to the method for controlling an onboard system in theembodiments of the present disclosure, and the foregoing and otheroperations and/or functions of the modules of the apparatus 400 forcontrolling an onboard system respectively implement correspondingprocedures of the methods in FIG. 1 and FIG. 12. For brevity, detailsare not described herein again.

It should be understood that the term “and/or” in this specificationdescribes only an association relationship for describing associatedobjects and represents that three relationships may exist. For example,A and/or B may represent the following three cases. Only A exists, bothA and B exist, and only B exists. In addition, the character “/” in thisspecification generally indicates an “or” relationship between theassociated objects.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that, in combinationwith the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in thisspecification, units and algorithm steps may be implemented byelectronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronichardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or softwaredepends on particular applications and design constraint conditions ofthe technical solutions. A person skilled in the art may use differentmethods to implement the described functions for each particularapplication, but it should not be considered that the implementationgoes beyond the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

It may be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, forthe purpose of convenient and brief description, for a detailed workingprocess of the foregoing system, apparatus, and unit, refer to acorresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, and detailsare not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present disclosure, it shouldbe understood that the disclosed system, apparatus, and method may beimplemented in other manners. For example, the described apparatusembodiment is merely an example. For example, the unit division ismerely logical function division and may be other division in actualimplementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may becombined or integrated into another system, or some features may beignored or not performed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutualcouplings or direct couplings or communication connections may beimplemented using some interfaces. The indirect couplings orcommunication connections between the apparatuses or units may beimplemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physicallyseparate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units,may be located in one position, or may be distributed on a plurality ofnetwork units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on actualrequirements to achieve the objectives of the solutions of theembodiments.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of theunits may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integratedinto one unit.

When the functions are implemented in the form of a software functionalunit and sold or used as an independent product, the functions may bestored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such anunderstanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the presentdisclosure essentially, or the part contributing to other approaches, orsome of the technical solutions may be implemented in a form of asoftware product. The computer software product is stored in a storagemedium, and includes several instructions for instructing a computerdevice (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device)to perform all or some of the steps of the methods described in theembodiments of the present disclosure. The foregoing storage mediumincludes any medium that can store program code, such as a universalserial bus (USB) flash drive, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, amagnetic disk, or an optical disc.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of theembodiments of the present disclosure, but are not intended to limit theprotection scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Anyvariation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in theart within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiments of thepresent disclosure shall fall within the protection scope of theembodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scopeof the embodiments of the present disclosure shall be subject to theprotection scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling an onboard system in a vehicle, comprising: obtaining ultrasonic signals reflected from a portion of an object of a driver contacting a steering wheel of the vehicle using a plurality of ultrasonic sensors, wherein the ultrasonic signals are obtained during a period of time, wherein the plurality of ultrasonic sensors is mounted in the steering wheel, and wherein the object is a hand or a finger of the driver; determining position information of the object within the period of time using the ultrasonic signals; determining, according to the position information, a track of the object as a current gesture of the driver; determining, according to the track, a gesture type of the current gesture from preset gesture types; and controlling the onboard system to perform an operation, wherein the operation corresponds to the gesture type.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining contour information of the object at a first time period of the period of time using the ultrasonic signals at the first time period; and determining whether the contour information is valid by comparing the contour information with pre-stored contour information.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the position information of the object is coordinates of a position of the object, and wherein determining, according to the position information, the track of the object as the current gesture of the driver further comprises obtaining a fitted function curve as the current gesture of the driver by performing function fitting on coordinates of a position of the object.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining, according to the track, the gesture type of the current gesture from the preset gesture types comprises: comparing the fitted function curve with function curves in a database; selecting a target function curve from the function curves, wherein the target function curve has a highest matching degree with the fitted function curve; and determining a second gesture type corresponding to the target function curve from the preset gesture types as the gesture type of the current gesture.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining directions of sound holes in a circumference of the steering wheel based on an active area of the object of the driver and coverage of the ultrasonic signals, wherein the sound holes correspond with the ultrasonic sensors.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the preset gesture types comprise at least one of the following gesture types: sliding two fingers either inward or outward; sliding two fingers either clockwise or anticlockwise; sliding one finger either upward, downward, leftward or rightward; double-clicking the steering wheel with one finger; waving one hand; touching and sliding one finger along an inner side of a circumference of the steering wheel; or double-clicking the steering wheel with two fingers.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting whether the steering wheel is in a rotation state; and obtaining the ultrasonic signals reflected from the portion of the object of the driver when the steering wheel is in a non-rotation state.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising further detecting whether the steering wheel is in the rotation state using a status of a gyroscope in the steering wheel.
 9. An apparatus for controlling an onboard system in a vehicle, comprising: a memory comprising instructions; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions cause the processor to: obtain ultrasonic signals reflected from a portion of an object of a driver contacting a steering wheel of the vehicle using a plurality of ultrasonic sensors, wherein the ultrasonic signals are obtained during a period of time, wherein the plurality of ultrasonic sensors is mounted in the steering wheel, and wherein the object is a hand or a finger of the driver; determine position information of the object within the period of time using the ultrasonic signals; determine, according to the position information, a track of the object as a current gesture of the driver; determine, according to the track, a gesture type of the current gesture from preset gesture types; and control the onboard system to perform an operation, wherein the operation corresponds to the gesture type.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: determine contour information of the object at a first time period of the period of time using the ultrasonic signals at the first time period; and determine the contour information is valid by comparing the contour information with pre-stored contour information.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the position information of the object is coordinates of a position of the object, and wherein the instructions further cause the processor to obtain a fitted function curve as the current gesture of the driver by performing function fitting on coordinates of a position of the object.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: compare the fitted function curve with function curves in a database; select a target function curve from the function curves, wherein the target function curve has a highest matching degree with the fitted function curve; and determine a second gesture type corresponding to the target function curve from the preset gesture types as the gesture type of the current gesture.
 13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine directions of sound holes in a circumference of the steering wheel based on an active area of the hand of the driver and coverage of the ultrasonic signals, wherein the sound holes correspond with the ultrasonic sensors.
 14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the preset gesture types comprise at least one of the following gesture types: sliding two fingers either inward or outward; sliding two fingers either clockwise or anticlockwise; sliding one finger either upward, downward, leftward or rightward; double-clicking the steering wheel with one finger; waving one hand; touching and sliding one finger along an inner side of a circumference of the steering wheel; or double-clicking the steering wheel with two fingers.
 15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: detect whether the steering wheel is in a rotation state; and obtain the ultrasonic signals reflected from the portion of the object of the driver when the steering wheel is in a non-rotation state.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to be configured to further detect whether the steering wheel is in the rotation state using a status of a gyroscope in the steering wheel.
 17. A computer program product comprising instructions that are stored on a computer-readable medium and that, when executed by a processor, cause an apparatus to: obtain ultrasonic signals reflected from a portion of an object of a driver contacting a steering wheel of the vehicle using a plurality of ultrasonic sensors, wherein the ultrasonic signals are obtained during a period of time, wherein the plurality of ultrasonic sensors is mounted in the steering wheel, and wherein the object is a hand or a finger of the driver; determine position information of the object within the period of time using the ultrasonic signals; determine, according to the position information, a track of the object as a current gesture of the driver; determine, according to the track, a gesture type of the current gesture from preset gesture types; and control the onboard system to perform an operation, wherein the operation corresponds to the gesture type.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the computer instructions further cause the processor to: determine contour information of the object at a first time period of the period of time using the ultrasonic signals at the first time period; and determine the contour information is valid by comparing the contour information with pre-stored contour information.
 19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to obtain a fitted function curve as the current gesture of the driver by performing function fitting on coordinates of a position of the object.
 20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the apparatus to: compare the fitted function curve with function curves in a database; select a target function curve from the function curves, wherein the target function curve has a highest matching degree with the fitted function curve; and determine a second gesture type corresponding to the target function curve from the preset gesture types as the gesture type of the current gesture. 